Windows 10 Pro Running on a Surface Book 2 (intel i7 with NVIDIA graphics card). Roon Build number: 1.8 (build 778).
Network Details (Including networking gear model/manufacturer and if on WiFi/Ethernet)
Running on ethernet cable via SAGEMCOM router. Sometimes on work wifi—a mesh system at a large public university. (It is hard for me to imagine the issue is on the wifi end given other diagnosing I’ve done below.)
Audio Devices (Specify what device you’re using and its connection type - USB/HDMI/etc.)
USB connection from core machine to Grace SDAC and AudioQuest Dragonfly Red; to Headphone Amp to Headphones and IEMs.
Description Of Issue
I am again having problems with popping sounds cropping up in playback. I tried getting helping with this issue in a different thread (Popping Sounds in Roon) and didn’t wind up receiving any follow up except from some helpful community members. I have isolated every part of my audio system and am fairly sure the problem is Roon. When I use another audio source going into my DAC, I don’t get popping. I also have tried using the Qobuz app and Foobar to play music and I don’t get the popping sounds.
The popping seems to be much worse when I have used various DACs in other software and then return to roon. Restarting the computer often (but not always) helps for a time; unplugging and reconnecting the DAC does not seem to do anything. Restarting Roon does not seem to do it. Weirdly quiting Roon and playing through the Qobuz app does seem to fix it often (but again, not always).
The pops are in both channels; they do not always occur at the same place in the track. Going to a new track or new album does not solve the problem—I will still get the pops. I get popping with both streamed music and music on an external hard drive.
It’s also worth noting this is a fairly new problem. While I think it predates the 1.8 update, it is at most a few months old. (At first I thought it was an issue with my amp and so didn’t post about it here.) I had successfully used Roon for years without this being an issue with the same endpoints.
I really need some help from @support. @dylan had started to help me in the previous thread, but stopped responding; @rebeka mentioned that was not how things typically worked. This is the first problem I’ve had with roon in years, and I have to say trying to get support for it has been a bit harder than I’d have thought! Especially when I can’t really listen to music via Roon at all without great frustration at this point. Thanks
One solution that has at least in the past few days seemed to be pretty good though still not perfect was increasing the buffer size of my main desktop dac to 250ms; any higher and roon loses control of the dac. I have still gotten some pops, but way way less than before. Maybe once a day instead of dozens an hour.
edit: I spoke too soon! After days of having the problem largely gone, I got it bad right after posting this message. Restarting the whole computer helped as usual, but I wanted to correct this so I didn’t give the wrong impression to anyone else who might stumble into this issue. (Still hoping for eventual recognition and help form @support.)
Apologies for the delay! Our team’s queue is longer than typical at the moment, but we’re working to get back to everyone as quickly as we can.
So we can better understand what might be happening, can you confirm the following?
Does this happen with every track? If not, is there any type of content that seems to trigger this more than others?
If you connect the devices to a different machine beside the one they’re currently connected to and play to them using Roon that way, does the same issue occur?
If you just play to System Output do you have the same popping?
It happens intermittently, so, no, not with literally every track. But there is no pattern to what kinds of track it does or does not happen with (FLAC files, Qobuz streaming, and various streaming rates and file quality types all generate the popping).
No, using roon through a bridge device does not cause the popping. After not hearing from you all for weeks, I tried just getting a raspberry pi endpoint set up. This has completely eliminated the popping. However, I need to be able to use roon from my computer sometimes nevertheless, so I’d still like help trying to get this addressed.
I will experiment using system output. I never use that setting, as I always run my DACs in exclusive mode. I will try this, though, to help isolate the problem.
